Acetylene-gas generator



(No Model.)

- F. W. HBDGELAND.

ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

No. 600,614. Patented Mar. vl5, 1898.

E@ I o NITE STATES PATENT OEETCE..

FREDERICK w. HEDGELAND, on oHIoAedILLINoIs.

AcETYLr-:N E-'eAs c;l-zruamiron.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,614, dated March 15, 1898. Application filed July 9, 1897. Serial No. 643,986. (N0 mdl To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, FREDERICK W. HEDGE- LAND, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Generators for Acetylene- Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention `relates to an improved con struction of gen erator designed, primarily, for use with acetylene-lamps. My principal objects in devising it have been the following:

to render the generator wholly self-regulating, so that the user, after the lamp has been started in operation, need give it no attention and so it will give forth and maintain a perfectly steady and brilliant flame during the life of the charge of carbid; to render the generatorsafe against explosion; to make the generator compact, simple, and of Vsmall weight; to so construct it that the exterior will remain cool while the apparatus is in use and thus permit handling; to prevent the gas which may lodge or be imprisoned in the opening or openings in the bottom of the carbid-holder from wholly excluding the water from the carbid; to avoid all necessity for soiling or burning the hands by contact with the carbid; to render easy the insertion and removal of the carbid, and generally toimprove the construction and operation of the apparatus. The iirst of these objectsl attain not in the customary way by restricting the access of the water to the carbid-as, for instance, by compelling it to filter through blotting-paper or to pass through very minute openings in the carbid-holder--su ch restrictions being inl tended to prevent too rapid generation, but by giving the water practically unobstructed access to the bottom of the carbid and by so constructing the apparatus as to insure a quick forcing back of the water from the carbid and a checking or slowing of the generation as soon as the pressure exceeds a desired degree. The safety against explosion is due chiefly to the automatic regulation of the generation, but in addition to this provision is also made for the escape of the gas through the water-reservoir when the pressure becomes very excessive. The freedom from heat of the exterior vof the generator is due to the fact that the Water-reservoir surrounds the generating-chamber. The immunity to the hands from being soiled or burned is obtained by putting the carbid in closed cartridges,in which it remains while itis being used and in and with which it may be ejected after use. All these and other features of the invention and their details are fully set forth in the description given below and are also illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure lis a vertical section of a bicyclelamp to which my invention has been applied, and Fig. 2 is a section of the water-valve.

In lsaid drawings, A represents a cylindrical vessel adapted to hold water. In the center of this reservoir is inserted a second cylinder B, dividing the interior of the vessel A into two compartments, of which the outer one A serves as a Waterreservoir and the inner one is divided by the floor D into the gas generating and holding chamber B and the equalizing-chamber A2. The compartments A' and A2 communicate at their bottoms by means of the pipeB2, havingavalve B3. The chambers B and A2 also communicate by pipe H and are both of small diameter. The wall of the cylinder B extends above-the top of the vessel A and is threaded to enable it to form a tight joint with the cap C, which supports the burner C of the lamp.

Inside the chamber' B, I place the carbid- 'holder D, which is a bottomless shell or cylinder, and in order that the holder may make a Water-tight frictional joint with the cylinder B and at the same time be easy of` insertion and removal a ring E is brazed or otherwise attached to said cylinder at the point shown. The floor D is provided with a central opening D2 large enough to give the water practically unobstructed access to the carbid, and this opening is guarded by upper and lower screens DS and D4, and between the screens I place a body'of sponge or other material D5, adapted to carry the water Y by capillary action to the carbid W above it.

The carbid W is placed in the holder after being incased in a suitable cartridge, an expansible cartridge composed of the telescoping box-halves F G, one inverted over the other, being used by preference. The bot- IOO floor D', so that the carbid will, when the holder containing the cartridge is positioned in the generating-chamber, come in contact with the sponge D5. The upper half F is per; forated on top to allow the gas to escape into the chamber above the holder, and the openings in both halves of the cartridge are covered by cheese or similar cloth G2 to prevent loss of carbid prior to insertion in the lamp.

When the carbid has been moistened, it is changed from a granular to a pasty mass, and consequently after the generator has been in use a short time the bottom of the body of carbid becomes illy adapted to allow any gas which may be below it to filter or pass upward through it, and it sometimes happens as a result of this that small bodies of the gas are imprisoned in the openings in the bottom of the carbid-holder by the pasty body of carbid above and the water below, and the gas so imprisoned acts to keep the rising water, which has only a slight pressure behind it, from access to the carbid. To avoid this result, I employ the sponge D5 at the opening, because even if gas be imprisoned there, as stated, yet such imprisoned gas will not be able to keep the water away from the lower portion of the sponge, and the latter will therefore take u p enough moisture and transmit it to the carbid by capillary action to maintain generation.

As shown in the main figure, the generator is charged both with water and carbid, and the water has j ust been admitted into chamber A2 and into contact with the carbid preparatory to using the lamp. The gas which now forms rises from the carbid and first fills chamber B', where it has access to the burner. As the pressure increases the gas forces its way down through pipe II, the lower end of which is carried under the carbid-holder, and into immediate proximity to the opening D2, and quickly forces the water back from said opening and checks the generation, at least in the 1nain. Should the pressure become very considerable, it may not only separate the water and carbid, but may force the former entirely out of the chamber A2, and in that case find vent through the vent-opening in the cap J, covering the opening through which the water-reservoir is charged. Whenever the pressure decreases, the water rises in the chamber A2, being forced to do so by the pressure of the body of water in the reservoir A', reaching first the sponge and afterward the carbid itself, if permitted. A backandeforth movement of both the gas and water in chamber A2 is thus caused, in which they are continually establishing an eq uilibrium of pressure, and the action described may take place many times in the course of an hour. The generation is stimulated whenever the water touches the sponge, and this cannot be wholly prevented by imprisoned gas in the opening D2, because the capillary action of the sponge will be suiiicient to carry moisture to the carbid in any case.

The valve B3 is preferably a three-way valve, as that enables me at the time of closing communication between the reservoir and generating-chamber to give escape to any water which may at that time be present in the latter, so that all further moistening of the carbid will be absolutely prevented even if the lamp be moved or tipped. This valve should of course be closed when the user desires to put out the lamp.

It will be noticed that by the construction shown the water entirely surrounds the generating-chamber. As a consequence of this the exterior remains sufliciently cool, even after hours of use, to permit handling of the lamp without burning the hands; also, that while the generator is very compact it also gives the gas such a large amount of room for expansion that its pressure very rarely becomes so excessive as to cause any loss of gas at the vent; also, that the equalizing-chamber is small in area and so permits only a limited surface of water, and consequently all the water comes under the control of the gas as soon as the latter acquires any prepondcrating pressure; also, that the water cannot rise in the chamber above the floor D', so that the gas is not obliged to displace any water whatever prior to acting upon the main body within the chamber, except such as maybe in the pipe H; also, that the water has -no access to the carbid except at the bottom; also, that the pipe B2 permits the water to move quickly in both directions, so that the chamber fills and empties in a short time. To these latter features I attribute much of the quickness with which the gas acts to separate the water and carbid, and to this quickness of separat-ion I also attribute much of the success of my invention, as it whol] y obviates overgeneration. It will also be noticed that access of the water to the carbid is practically unobstructed, except in so far as it is controlled by the gas-pressure.

Above the cartridge I place a perforated plate K and alsoa spring L to keep this plate down upon the cartridge with sufficient pressure to prevent any distortion of the cartridgecover or any undue expansion of the cartridge. I prefer to inclose the carbid in cartridges, because in that way the users hands can be saved from being burned or soiled either in loading thel generator or in removing the eX- hausted material. rlhe form of cartridge shown is adapted to permit the carbid to expand without breaking the package, so that it can be ejected from the generator without spilling the contents. I prefer that paper or similar material be used in the manufacture of the cartridge, so that it may be thrown away after once using, and so it may be sold to users already loaded; also, to make it of different fixed sizes, some adapted to burn for one hour, others for two hours, others for three hours, and so on, so that the user may be saved the expense of using larger cartridges than he needs and be always able to IOO IIO

use a fresh cartridge instead of a partiallyexhausted one.

The cloth in the top of the cartridge will serve the additional useful purpose of intercepting fine particles of solid matter given o by the carbid and also of intercepting the damp Vapor arising during generation. The solid particles would otherwise lodge at and clog the burner, and the vapor, unless prevented, Will condense upon the burner and form a carbon thereon under heat.

The gas is subjected to considerable heat before it rises beyond the top of the carbidholder, and this heat has a tendency to deprive the gas of the moisture not taken out of it by the cheese-cloth at the top of the cartridge, so that when it reachesy the burner it is Well fitted to give a bright light Without coating the burner or reflectors. The dry gas, being lighter than the freshly-formed or damper portions, rises to the burner before the latter, but the latter soon become dry in turn and then rise. This drying operation is largely due to the carbid-holder, as the gas is upon both 'sides of it for a considerable portion of its length, and it is itself necessarily very hot.

l claiml. The combination in an acetylene-lamp, of a generating-chamber having a bottom through which is an opening giving the Water free access t0 the carbid, an equalizingchamber located Wholly below said opening and acting to admit the Water to it, a pipe connecting said equalizing-chamber-With the top of the generating-chamber and a Watertank communicating with the equalizingchamber through a passage such as B2, substantially as specified.

2. The combination in an acetylene-generating apparatus, of the generating-chamber containing the carbid and having an opening in its bottom through Which the Water has access to the carbid, the equaliZing-chamber, communicating with the generating-chamber by a pipe leading from the top of the latter,

v and the Water-reservoir, o f a Water pipe or assarre connecting the e ualizinOr-chamber b D b and the reservoir, and a valve acting to close said Water connection and at the same time to give escape to the Water in the chamber, substantially as speciiied.

3. The combination in an acetylenegas generator, of a generating-chamber having an opening in its bottom; a carbid-holder separate from and located in said chamber, and presenting the carbid directly over said opening, an equalizing-chamber below said generating-chamber, a pipe connecting said chambers, and a Water-reservoir communicating with the bottom of said equalizing-chamber, substantially as specified.

et. `The combination in an acetylene-gas generator, of a generating-chamber, a carbidholder separate from andv `located in said chamber and carrying carbid to Which Water is admitted at the bottom only, an equalizingchamber below said generating-chamber, a

pipe connecting said chambers, the same being carried close `to the exposed bottom of the carbid, and a Water-reservoir supplying Water to said equalizing-chamber, substantially as specified.

5. In a gas-generator, the combination of a Water-reservoir, the central portion whereof is divided from the outer portion and is also divided horizontally so as to form separate generating and equalizing chambers, and a pipe connecting said chambers and passing through the reservoir, substantially as speciiied.

6. The acetylene generator having au equalizing-chamber in which the Water ebbs and iiows in obedience to the varying gaspressure, a generating-chamber divided from `the equalizing-chamber but receiving water from it through an opening in the bottom thereof and supplying it With gas under pressure through a pipe H, and a Water-tank divided from both said chambers but communieating With the equalizing-chamber by a passage B2, substantially as specified.

FREDERICK W. HEDGELAND. Vitnesses:

EDW. S. EvARTs, H. M. MUNDAY. 

